Welcome to my life
by stephamada
Summary: Elves in lingerie drawers, violet-eyed unicorns and lightning...All in a days work, really. If you're a girl called Lily that is. But hey, welcome to my life.
1. Chapter 1:Saying Goodbye

Disclaimer- Yeah, unfortunately for me Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowlings. The plot and additional characters are mine. If ever something I use isn't mine, it will be mentioned either in the beginning or the end of the chapter. This goes for all my chapters.

Authors note: Hewo! This is the first time I've ever written a fan-fiction(actually first story too).What can I say? I've read so many fantastic stories that I thought I could possibly write one myself. So if it sucks, I apologise. If you think it's good, I love you, have a cookie. If you think it could be improved, I'm completely open to advice from people I'm sure are much more experienced than me. Thanks guys. Now without furthur ado...I present to you(hey i just realized that rhymes, sorry). drumroll

p.s. Ok, I sort of just found out we aren't allowed to have lyrics in our fics, therefore, whenever I want to use a song, I'll 'refer' you to the song and singer, and hope you check it out.This chapters song is _Welcome to my life- Simple plan _from which I got the title of my fic.

**Welcome to my life**

**Chapter 1:- Saying Goodbye**

_Goodbye is the saddest word in the world. _The petite red-haired girl thought morosely as she painstakingly dragged her trunk along the corridor. Blinking back the tears stinging at the corner of her eyes she glanced up, trying to see if there were any empty compartments. They'd arrived a bit late - unsurprisingly, since her dad was involved – and she could hear a constant rumble of conversations lightened with occasional laughter filtering through most of the partly closed doors. Heading for one that seemed unoccupied near the end, she tentatively peeked inside, relaxing the moment she saw it was empty. Flicking her eyes up, she thought _Thank you God! _And quickly tugged her trunk in.

After settling in, she looked out the window and started scanning through the swarms of families, friends and general well-wishers still waiting at the platform. Here and there she spotted the occasional unlucky mummy's pet, who stood impatiently as teary mothers once again brushed non-existence dust off their shoulders and adjusted already straightened robes. Smiling slightly in sympathy she continued searching for the two faces she wanted to see. Finally, Lily's intense green eyes landed on a couple standing a short distance away from the crowd. Almost immediately after that a set of aqua-blue eyes locked onto hers, and her mother smiled as she turned and said something to the tall commandeering man beside her while discreetly pointing in Lily's direction. Steely gray eyes rested on her and nodded even as her mother waved. Enthusiastically she smiled and waved back, the frowned slightly as her mother mouthed two words to her……_take……care……_ Smiling again she nodded and mouthed back …_you…too…_just as the whistle blew. She watched as they waved in reply and was lifting her hand for one last wave when suddenly the door was pushed open and two girls wandered in and sat down. Ignoring Lily they put their things away, all the while maintaining a constant conversation about…robes?

"I'm serious Linda! They're like so long and _booorriinng _! And like we have to wear them until seventh year, well except weekends or something. But like, the people who designed them had no fashion sense at all!"

Cringing a bit as 'Linda' replied, "I know! It like totally sucks!" in what had to be the highest voice Lily had ever heard in her extensive eleven-year-long life, she turned back to the window to see her mother dabbing at her eyes, smiling a bit guiltily when she saw Lily frowning at her. _Because she promised she wouldn't, _Lily thought, _although I should have expected it, seeing as how she was bawling her eyes out when petunia went to boarding school. _She had been tempted not to go to Hogwarts and stay with her mother instead, but that had only been a thought, immediately discarded by the part of her that wanted this… needed this as an answer and reason to the strange and previously inexplicable yearnings and sense of difference she had suffered before her letter came.

Ah yes… The Letter…

_Oops…the train is leaving._ Looking up she waved to her parents yet again and only turned away from the window when their faces were too small and blurred to be recognizable among the crowd.

"And I look horrible in black!" 'Linda' whined.

_Right. Them. _Lily sighed. _I suppose I should introduce myself…whenever…IF ever…there's a break in their conversation. But meanwhile, where was I? Oh right. The Letter. _It was kind of funny, actually, now that she thought about it. They had been quietly eating breakfast, together - for once, when her father had come across the letter with her name and address neatly printed on the front. She had been happily eating her CocoPops when her father had said in a surprised voice

"Oh, you have a letter, Lily. Is it from school?"

She had shrugged, reaching for it and turning it over to see the wax seal (which should have told her or at least given her a hint that it wasn't a normal letter and would in fact change her life as she knew it). '_Is it from school…_ ' Lily scoffed in the train, _as if I would know, seeing as how I hadn't even seen it much less opened and read it yet. Honestly, parents are so silly sometimes. _She had slowly read the letter, and then read it again, and again, only ignoring her parent's questions out of pure shock and disbelief. At first she had thought it a prank played by one of those " good for nothing people who have nothing better to do with their lives", as her Aunt Daisy liked to mumble to herself whenever she got a prank call. Finally Petunia had reached over, snatched it out of her hands, and started reading it out loud.

"Dear Miss Lily Evans, I would like to welcome you to the Hogwarts School of Wizardry……"

Eyes widening, Petunia's words had slowly trailed off as she continued reading, incredulously glancing up at Lily and also ignoring her parent's now irritated demands as to what the letter said.

"You don't believe this do you, Lily?"

Petunia asked, expecting an obvious 'no, of course not' answer. Both parents turned to Lily, and at her silence her mother finally snapped

"Believe what, for heaven's sake?"

Her father's eyebrows went up in agreement, also silently demanding an explanation. Rather than try to grasp words from her floundering mind, Lily had just grabbed her letter back, with a sharp glare at Petunia, and passed it to her mother. She immediately read it out loud, eyebrows rising and creasing as well as she read the letter.

"……Yours sincerely, Professor Albus Dumbledore."

For a while silence reigned at the table before Petunia said primly,

"Well obviously it's just a prank or something. You don't believe it, do you, Mum? Dad?"

Again there was that 'I already know you don't' tone to her voice. But when her mother remained silent, eyes locked with her father's, she asked again, this time an almost desperate hint present in her wavering voice,

"Do you?"

With her eyes focused on Lily, her mother had said softly,

"Your dad and I have to think about this."

Shocked, Petunia had quickly finished breakfast before going up to her bedroom and locking herself inside. Lily had done the same, knowing that in their own room down the hall, her parents were discussing The Letter.

_I'm a witch?_

Lily thought… It was disconcerting to say the least. She'd been brought up believing that magic, this kind of magic, didn't exist, though sometimes she wished it did jut so she could use it to do her chores or play tricks on Petunia. But she had always known it didn't exist.

_Well, obviously I was wrong._

Once she had gotten over the initial disbelief even at the idea, it had sort of made sense, sort of explained a few things. Things she had previously labeled coincidence, or just a figment of her overactive imagination. Like the time with her mother's favourite vase. She could have sworn she heard it breaking, when she had tripped on the edge of the rug and knocked it over. Even as her eyes clenched shut, not wanting to see the damage, she mentally prepared herself for the pieces on the floor, the resulting inevitable scolding and anger and disappointment. Slowly opening her eyes, she had seen it in front of her. Whole. Not broken. Safe. Not broken. She had meticulously checked it for any cracks. But no, it was just…not broken. Confused she had just blamed it on her imagination.

There was also that time with those bullies. Her blood still boiled at the thought. She had been walking back home when she had seen the two boys beating a puppy with a stick, its owner a small girl crying and struggling against another boy holding her back, laughing at her obvious misery. Lily really really hated people like that. She just couldn't understand how anyone would even want to hurt anyone or anything, much less enjoy it. Heartless inhumane gits, she had thought, angrily stomping towards them, intent on stopping the senseless torture. At that time it had never entered her mind about what a ten year old girl could do against three fourteen year old bullies. She had just reacted. But before she had even gotten close the stick had suddenly ripped out of the astonished boy's hands and started hitting them instead. Getting over their shock swiftly they had had ran away screaming in fear and pain. The stick had hovered, and then headed towards the last boy, who had hurriedly released the little girl and scrambled away, his face pale with horror. A bit fearful herself, the girl had nonetheless determinedly crept to the puppy, cautiously eyeing the stick for any sudden movements. When the coast seemed clear she had gingerly hugged her puppy, whereupon the stick promptly dropped to the ground. Just before Lily would have gone to help her, the girl's mother arrived so she had just gone back home and tried to forget the incident. Then there also the time with the shattered window when she had lost her temper at Petunia, or the sand castle the waves couldn't wash away. All the little oddities Lily had pushed to the back of her mind now came to surface as she realized that yes, she had magic.

_Wow._

_Brilliant._

Lying on her bed Lily smiled in wonder.

_I can do magic. I'm a witch._

Apparently, her parents had agreed and later that day told her that she could attend Hogwarts. At first they were also a bit confused and unbelieving, but gradually as they followed the instructions in the letter and bought the books and robes from Diagon Alley (In London! Right under their noses!) and realized that it was all very real and not at all a prank or scam, they had slowly gotten more excited about it. Lily had too. Especially when she bought her wand. 10 1/4 inches. Silver with a slight green tinge. Unicorn hair and Golden willow.

"And," Ollivander had said with a mysterious and proud look in his eyes," not just any Golden willow tree. It's from The Golden Willow, one of the First trees, one that a dryad changed into."

All of which meant absolutely nothing to Lily. But it was obviously important so she just nodded, made the appropriate sounds of awe, and tried to look like she understood. This obviously wasn't good enough, as Ollivander had taken one look at her and said, a knowing twinkle in his eyes,

"It's excellent for charms, dear. Quite powerful, considering the tiny thing you are."

Decidedly ignoring the latter, which she deemed unworthy of comment, she thought…_yes…charms. Good for charms……whatever that was._ There were so many new things and ideas now open to her, a completely new and different world. Yet she was hesitant to step into it. She didn't mind change, really. But to do this she had to leave everything behind, everything she held dear, her friends (the few she had), her home, her family(yes even Petunia, who really wasn't the best sister in the world)_. I have to leave everything I know, and come to a new world knowing absolutely nothing. And I bet everyone will know that. Well, I suppose it can't be as bad as before._ And her eyes darkened as she thought about it. And then noticed that it was awfully quiet in the compartment. Yanking away from her thoughts, she noticed that the two girls were staring curiously at her. _Oops…sigh…here we go… Introductions…_

"Hi, I'm Lily," she shyly offered.

"I'm Anabelle," one of the girls said, her voice slightly cool, like the pale icy blue of her eyes. Tossing her straight blond hair slightly in the other girl's direction she said

"That's Linda."

Giggling, the brown-eyed girl did a strange wave thing with her hand and tossed her light brown hair as well, before saying,

"Hi! I like can't believe you're already wearing your robes. I'm only gonna put them on right before we get there. They're so ugly!"

_Good grief. Is she still on about that? Ah well, better play along. It probably isn't the best idea to offend the first people I meet. Quick! What to say….? I hate making conversation. I suck at this…_

_Which is why you had no friends in school. _A little voice inside her sniped.

_Shut up. I did too. There was Angela … and Gladys … and um…_

_Denise doesn't count._

_Why not?_

_Because she was only pretending to be your friend. She didn't really like you. Which kind of goes for all the other girls as well. You weren't really friends with them. You're just pretended you were._

_Shut up! _Lily then proceeded to ignore the voice and said to Linda.

"I know. But I sort of had to. My parents told me to," Silently apologizing to her parents who had actually left the decision to her.

"Oh, are you one of those goody-two-shoes?" Anabelle said mockingly, one of her eyebrows raised in scorn.

"No, I just figured that I might as well oblige them this once since they wouldn't be able to order me around for a long time after that," Lily shrugged, once again inwardly wincing at the lie necessary to prevent social suicide. _And this is why I hate conversations. At least I know even across worlds some things remain the same._

Mildly pacified, Anabelle said "Oh, well then I suppose that's alright. Since they're not here, why don't you take it off? It really does nothing for your pale skin, darling."

_Shudder I don't think I could take much more of this, but maybe I'll just be quiet for now, _Lily thought as she shrugged out of her robes. _And here I was hoping I'd fit in better. Although being at home with Petunia isn't really much better, since she would be busy criticizing the way I dress too. I'm always not modest enough or my skirts are too short or something. Lisa and Linda seem to be on one side of the spectrum and Petunia on the other. And naturally I'm in the middle. As usual. I'm always too conservative or too immodest, or too carefree or too serious. I studied too much for some people and not enough for others. Honestly couldn't they make up their own minds? I bet it'll be the same here too _Lily thought sullenly before a soft voice said _don't judge everyone by the first two people you meet. _She sighed. True. Well maybe she'd be able to find somewhere to belong in this new world. Maybe she could start anew and leave behind the old her and be better, more popular. After all they wouldn't know the old her and expect her to be the same. so she could be anything she wanted to be, without having to worry about anyone calling her a fake or something. _Well, here we go. Goodbye old me. Goodbye old world. Hello new and improved Lily. Hello Hogwarts._


	2. Chapter 2:Corners

Disclamer: Harry Potter ain't mine, sonny! It belong to that there woman called J.K Rowlings dangnabit!

Chapter 2:- Corners

_I'm going to die. At this point I think I want to. _Lily just managed to keep herself from banging her head repeatedly against the windowsill. _How on earth do they find so much to talk about? Especially about things I don't think normal people even notice. Somehow I really don't think you have to worry about the minute freckle on the back of your neck! Why am I doing this again?_ Lily asked herself as she smiled and nodded at whatever it was that Linda had just said. Yes, the answer to everything. Just smile and nod. Doesn't matter who it is, that you weren't listening or that you had no idea what they were talking about. All you needed to do was smile and nod and it would all be good. But after nearly two hours of smiling and nodding her neck and cheek muscles were protesting.

_I need a break._

Abruptly, Lily stood up and forced a small smile as she said,

"Sorry, if you'll excuse me I just need to stretch a bit," adding on " I really should freshen up a little before we arrive" when Anabelle raised an inquisitive eyebrow. Suspicions put to rest at the 'understandable' excuse, the girls returned to their discussion about whether it was trendier to have brown hair with bond highlights or blond hair with brown highlights.

Closing the door, Lily heaved a silent sigh of relief before arching into a stretch. _Hmm…left or right? _Lily pondered. Feeling a bit whimsical she closed her eyes and spun around. As luck would have it she didn't end up facing the door or crash into anything but veered to the left instead. _Left it is then _she thought and strolled down the corridor, the unaccustomed bulk of the robes she had put on before she left only slightly impinging her leggy stride. People often said she had a distinctive stride- some girls called it a bit too boyish, but Lily didn't really care as long as it got her where she wanted at the time she needed to be there. Some of the girls she knew tried to imitate that seductive hip swaying and ended up looking like "skinned chickens trying to do the tango", another quote she had adopted from Aunt Daisy. _I think I spend too much time in her company. _Lily thought wryly.

"Hello, dear. Would you like to buy some chocolate frogs or pumpkin pastries? A kind voice interrupted her musings. It came from a middle-aged woman with peaceful blue eyes and wispy brown hair tied in a messy bun, pushing what looked to be a food trolley.

"Oh, hello. Um…maybe a chocolate frog please?" _mmm… chocolate_

"That'll be 3 knuts for you dear, just because I like your smile. Oh my, look at that lovely blush! Well I'll see you around dear. Remember to keep smiling."

Bemused and slightly embarrassed Lily watched as the food lady knocked on a door and cheerfully strode in, confident of a welcome. _Gee, maybe I should go around selling chocolates and biscuits too. _

_Or not._

Shrugging her shoulders, Lily concentrated on opening the packet in her hands. _Was it just me, or did the packet just twitch? Right Lily, I'm sure that your chocolate is alive and moving. Don't be silly! _

_I knew I spent too long with those girls._

Peeling open the wrapper, she froze as the chocolate frog suddenly leapt out and started frantically hopping away. _What on…? _Stunned, she just stood there for a moment, blinking her eyes in disbelief, before rushing after her chocolate.

"Hey! Come back here, you… chocolate frog you!"

Great. Now she was talking to a chocolate, albeit a mobile chocolate frog that was trying to get away, but still… a chocolate.

_I think I'm going insane. And I'm only eleven. _

Rolling her eyes, she ran around the corner……and slammed right into what felt like a brick wall…with broken bits of brick sticking out of it.

_Oww…_

Grimacing in pain, she looked up from her sprawl on the floor only to find herself staring into of cold slate-gray eyes that at the moment were filled with an icy rage.

_Uh…oh…_

"Why don't you watch where you're going? Little first year pests like you should be locked up to prevent innocent bystanders from having to suffer the torture of your inherent clumsiness, inconsideration and utter stupidity!"

His voice was cultured and smooth, but his clipped tone was sharp, and intended to cut and wound. He flicked his pale blond hair out of his eyes as he looked down at her and sneered at her stuttering apology before brushing off his robe like it was contaminated and stalking off regally. _Pompous arrogant twit! _Lily thought crossly as she got up slowly, wincing at her sore muscles. _I'm going to bruise, I just know it. All he did was stumble back a bit while I fall soundly and painfully on my bum and he acts as if I started World War 2. _She entertained thoughts of giant hammers, pointy objects and a certain blond, gray-eyed boy before realizing that her chocolate frog was sitting just in the corner. Pouncing on it swiftly, she grabbed it and two seconds later was licking the chocolate off her fingers, feeling much better. _Chocolate is THE great cure-all. _She really pitied those dairy-intolerant people. _How on earth do they survive? Although I suppose they don't really know what they're missing. _

Feeling restless now, Lily looked down the corridor she was now on and frowned as she tried to think what to do next. A mischievous idea started to form in her head, one that had her still sticky fingers twitching in anticipation. The practical, obedient part of her was nearly having an epileptic fit but her naughty half, which she hardly indulged, was laughing diabolically, trying to shove her 'better' half under a blanket……

Sometimes she scared herself.

After a few more minutes of internal debate and struggle, her 'better' half was tied up and looking reproachfully at her 'naughty' half, who cheerfully ignored it.

Adrenalin pumping, Lily sprinted down the corridor, knocking on all the doors loudly then hid around the corner. A second later, a chorus of doors opening and confused voices questioning each other rang down the corridor, slowly degenerating in one case to a mild quarrel between irritable inhabitants. Giggling silently into her hands, Lily turned away from the corner…

_Uh..oh…_

_Why do I keep doing this?_

Three pairs of eyes were fixed on her from inside the compartment, which she had just barged into, each of them holding a varying mixture of amusement and surprise. Two of the boys had messy black hair, one had puppy-like gray eyes that showed what seemed like appreciation at her prank while the other……

_His eyes…they're so pretty. I don't even know what colour they are…brown? No...hazel maybe? With green and gold flecks…_

"I suppose you're the one responsible for that?" Shaking her head slightly to clear it from the mirage of swirling colours, she focused on the third boy who had spoken, suppressed laughter evident in his voice. He had sandy brown hair that hung a bit limply but his eyes were a bright warm blue and seemed to put some life into his tired and pale face. It was quite a delicate face, and he looked like a small breeze would push him over but there was a sense of quiet strength in his eyes, and determination in the set of his chin.

"Umm..uh…I don't know what you're talking about." Lily shrank into the wall, knowing by the unnatural warmth of her skin that she was blushing and hoping (knowing it was in vain) to hide the answer written all over her face.

"I'm sorry, I …." _Come on…think Lily! What's a reasonable excuse? _

"I must have gotten confused and walked into the wrong compartment," her voice was a higher pitch than normal and she just barely kept it from cracking. _Brilliant! I'm sure they'll believe that Lily! _She thought sarcastically to herself. All her protective instincts were screaming at her to run and she was just about to comply when the gray-eyed boy said,

"Come on, then. Take some pride in a job well done." Smiling in greeting he continued, "I'm Sirius by the way," then he paused thoughtfully "and I mean Sirius as in that's my name. Sirius. Not that I'm serious as in solemn serious…"

"Shut up Sirius, you're babbling. Just ignore him, he's always like this," the sandy haired boy interrupted at Lily's slightly bewildered yet amused look. "I'm Remus and this is James," jerking his head towards the last boy who waved and smiled. _Is it just me, or do his eyes seem a bit unfocussed? He's doesn't seem to be really looking at me…like he needs glasses or something._

"I'm Lily," she said with a shy smile, wondering what to do next._ So……do I make excuses and leave…or stay and try not to make a bigger fool of myself than I already have. Decisions, decisions… _

"…first year?" _Oops…and this is what happens when you don't pay attention._

"Sorry, what were you saying?" Lily asked James, who looked at her strangely and repeated his question,

"Is it your first year?"

"Oh, yes, it is. Is it yours as well?" Lily asked addressing all of them. They all nodded and Sirius chirped in,

"I'm looking forward to exploring Hogwarts, just think of all the secret passageways and long-forgotten hidden rooms we could find!"

"Yeah, I've heard a lot of things about Hogwarts from my older brother." Remus added. "Hey, are you both trying out for the quidditch team?" He asked, turning to his friends. Vigorous nods followed that question and the boys started an enthusiastic conversation about the various teams they supported.

_Quidditch? Brooms…quaffles…snitches? What the…? I'm confused… _

It was Remus who finally noticed Lily standing near the door, her head cocked to the side and her eyes wide in confusion.

"Did you want to come in and sit down, Lily?" The manners his mother's had drilled into him since he was young coming into play.

_If I stay it'll become really obvious that I don't come from the wizarding world. I don't even know what this quidditch is, though it sounds like s sport, and that seems to be a really important thing here. Maybe I better leave…_

"Um… no thanks. I think I have to go now. Maybe I'll see you guys some other time." Smiling awkwardly Lily excused herself, waving back when the boys dragged themselves out of their intense conversation to say goodbye.

Lily took her time getting back to her compartment, unaware of the conversation that took place once she had left the boy's compartment.

"You know, I think she might be a muggle." Remus said thoughtfully.

"Who? Lily?" Sirius asked in surprise.

"Yeah. She didn't seem to know what quidditch was. And I think everyone who's been brought up in the wizarding world has to know what quidditch is." Remus stated, more confident that he was right.

"Well, unless you're deaf, blind and a vegetable." James added in.

"Oh you mean like you, Jamesie?" Sirius said in an innocent voice.

James glared in Sirius's direction.

"The only reason I'm half-blind is because you," he jabbed his finger at the smirking Sirius, "stole my glasses."

"Who me?" Sirius spread his hands, as if showing he didn't have the glasses.

Rolling his eyes, James ignored him and said to Remus,

"Maybe she just didn't talk because she didn't like quidditch."

"No," Remus reflected "She seemed a bit shy but I think she really had no idea what quidditch was."

"Shy?" Sirius added doubtfully, "after playing that prank? I don't think so." Smiling at the memory he grinned. "Actually I quite liked her. That was a good prank she played. Not up to our standards but still, not bad for an amateur."

"Ooh, spent a bit of time looking for that word in the dictionary didn't you?" James teased Sirius, laughing at his insulted expression. Remus rolled his eyes, keeping both eyes on his two friends to make sure that not too much damage was done.

Not too far off in the horizon, Hogwarts towered silently, waiting for this year's new arrivals with anticipation. In just a short amount of time, its halls would once more be filled with conversation, laughter, quarrels and tears, but most importantly, of life.


	3. Chapter 3:Holycrackamoley

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is J.K.Rowlings, and this story is mine :P

_"Nothing is great or little otherwise by comparison"_ (II:1;5) – Gulliver's Travels by Jonathon Swift. Mention of Gulliver and the Lilliputians is from here.

**Chapter 3:- Holycrackamoley!**

_Biiiiggggg! _Lily only barely kept her jaw in place as she found herself looking up…

and up…

and up…

into a ball of fuzz with clothes. Well, it looked like fuzz. Then the fuzz started moving…

"Firs' years! Follo' me!" Stepping back from the booming voice Lily blinked and realized that the ball of fuzz was actually a person. _Um..at least I think it's a person. Who just happens to be really…really big._

"I'm Hagrid and I'm in charge of yer till we get to 'ogwarts." _Is that a West Country or Yorkshire accent? I can't really tell. _Although at first glance she'd been a bit intimidated by Hagrid's sheer size, after listening to his jokes and rumbling laughter on the way across the lake, she started to find him quite endearing. _Like a big teddy bear. _But her smile dropped along with her jaw as they approached Hogwarts. What had been patches of shadow now solidified into walls and towers that loomed over all of them.

_Biiiiggggg!_

_Honestly what is it with these people? First giant men, now giant castles! As if I wasn't already aware that I was small. As long as the monsters aren't this big I'll be happy. I feel like the Lilliputians seeing Gulliver and his world. Hehe…talk about huge impressions……right……I think I need some sleep._

Unfortunately for her, sleep was not a viable option as she was herded into the Great hall by a bony old woman with square-rimmed glasses and beady eyes who started reading names from a list. _What was her name again? Professor Macdonald? Haha… No…wait…Professor Mahogany? No...that was a type of wood. Um…_

"Lily Evans."

_Wha…? Uh oh…what am I doing? _Hiding her rapidly increasing panic, Lily moved to the front of the crowd towards the chair that Professor…McGonagall_ (that's it!) _was impatiently gesturing towards. Attempting (and probably failing) to look as if she knew what was going on, Lily picked up the dingy old hat resting on it and sat down slowly, leaning forward slightly so the tips of her toes touched the floor_. Just so I don't look that short. _Looking timidly at Professor McGonagall, who vaguely motioned for her to put the hat on her head, Lily gingerly placed it on her head, hoping it would not give her head lice. Instantly she found herself suspended in darkness, prevented from being pitch black by numerous tiny glimmers of light. _Like the Twilight zone…_

_Well, well, well. What do we have here? Muggle-born, are you? And you have no idea what I am or what this is about. I see that a brief explanation is in order. I am the sorting hat. There are four houses in Hogwarts - Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. My job is to sort new students into their respective houses, and you'll find that people in the same house tend to have similar character traits. For example Gryffindors are known to be brave, Ravenclaws smart, Hufflepuffs loyal and Slytherins ambitious. Now, where do I put you…hmm…_

Stunned into silence by the creaky voice, Lily really didn't know what to think, and so just listened as the hat conducted a one-sided conversation.

_My, my I think you could fit just about anywhere. Yes…it's all there. The knowledge, quite an intelligent little thing aren't you?_

_I resent that…_

_Untapped though….hmm…I suppose you'll grow into yourself. Practical…yes…Ooo, and what's this? Ambition…yes…you could do great things you know. You have a big heart for one so small_

_Would you stop rubbing it in!_

_Hmm…decisions, decisions. Then I suppose it'll have to be…_

"Gryffindor!"

That last word was shouted, and a wave of applause swept across the hall, the loudest and most rambunctious cheers originating from the house she assumed was Gryffindor. She hesitantly walked towards the table, where a rush of people greeted her with slaps on the back and handshakes. Sirius grinned and waved from his seat at the table as she sat down next to an older girl she learned was Valerie Tse from third year. Brushing back untidy long black hair that hung past her waist, she smiled amiably and welcomed Lily to Gryffindor, her glasses not hiding the kindness in her dark brown eyes. Lily smiled back and settled down, watching the rest of the students getting sorted.

Remus cheerfully joined them when his turn came and went and when a widely grinning James headed for the table a minute later, Lily saw that he had on a pair of black-rimmed glasses. Turning to Sirius, she inquired,

"Was he wearing glasses on the train?"

Letting out a short bark of laughter, Sirius flicked a glance at Remus before saying,

"Nope," and at Lily's questioning gaze continued, "Cos I hid them." Lily could see that there was something more to it from the looks on their faces and so probed a bit.

"Where?"

Sirius's grin grew even wider as he said smugly,

"In his spectacle case."

She couldn't stop the laughter that burst out of her and without much hesitation the boys joined her . When they stopped to breathe Lily asked Sirius,

"So what made you give them back to him?" And was taken aback when a fierce look of disgust warring with amusement appeared on both his and Remus's faces.

" Well, Remus and I decided it would be a good idea when he actually started a conversation with Malfoy since he couldn't see who it was." Seeing Lily's blank face, Sirius went on to explain, "Malfoy," he said, spitting the name out, " is the slimmest git on the face of this planet. Maybe you've seen him. Blond hair…gray eyes…?"

_Oh._

_HIM…_

With an understanding grimace, Lily said, " Yeah I know who you're talking about. Accidentally bumped into him in the train. Not a nice experience."

Sirius nodded in sympathy, "Well, then you'll understand why we gave James his glasses back." By this point James had made it to the table relatively unharmed from the enthusiastic Gryffindor welcome so Sirius started chatting to him and Lily just sat there, observing and absorbing the whole environment.

Everything after that just sped by as all the first years were sorted and a certain Professor Dumbledore with twinkling sky-blue eyes said his words of welcome _(Goody goody gumdrops?)_. The highlight of her evening was when various dishes appeared on the table with a 'pop', including some of her favourites, and Lily proceeded to stuff herself.

_Me like food…_she thought contentedly as she followed a prefect through a maze of hallways before they arrived in front of a network of staircases.

_Wait a second…they're…_

"Holycrackamoley! They're moving!"

Turning around in surprise, Lily looked with amusement at the girl who had stolen the words right out of her mouth. She had a slight build and pale white skin that contrasted startlingly with her intense light blue eyes. Her smoky brown hair was short and curled at the ends_. In all the right places…_Lily thought with envy as she fingered her own unruly curls. Smiling good-naturedly at Lily, the girl said animatedly,

"Where I'm from, the staircases are firmly attached to both ends. If they ever move, it's generally a good idea to get the heck out of the way before the entire building collapses on you!"

Chuckling a bit, Lily said, " I know what you mean. Are you a …what do they call it here…a muggle? Are you a muggle as well?"

"I'm a half-muggle. We live in muggle London and Dad just apparates to work in the Ministry. I'm Natalie by the way. Natalie Beauford. But everyone calls me Nat"

"I'm Lily. Lily Evans. Pleased to meet you." Lily shook Natalie's outstretched hand with a smile.

"Oh, pish posh. No need to be so formal. Oh, we're moving!"

Both girls clung to the banister; faces alight with wonder as the staircase moved towards a large painting of a …generously endowed lady dressed in a red and gold Victorian gown.

On the way, various other smaller paintings featured maids and shepherds, some of whom whispered behind their hands while others smiled pleasantly as the students went by them.

_The paintings move? _Lily's eyes widened a fraction further as she took in the remarkable sight of mobile paintings that could not only move but travel outside their own frames into other ones.

_Holycrackamoley indeed._

"Welcome to Gryffindor!" The lady in the painting said warmly, and the prefect leading them greeted her politely before addressing the crowd in front of him, wondering nostalgically if that same look of awe and wonder had been on his face on his first day.

"This is the painting that leads to the Gryffindor common room and all your dorms, and you'll need to remember the painting and say the password to the Fat Lady to enter. Now remember not to tell anyone from the other houses the way to this place or the password or you'll be in big trouble. This month's password is dufflebogey. Say it with me, _duf-fle-bo-gey._ Good._" _

_Who on earth would want to be known as the Fat Lady? _Lily thought incredulously.

"A bit patronising isn't he? We're eleven, not four." Natalie muttered softly to Lily who stifled a laugh as they were led into a huge room with two fireplaces on opposite ends of the room. A few burgundy couches with gold embroidered pillows were arranged around cherry wood tables into cosy corners near the fireplaces. Various shades of red and gold throws and rugs covered parts of the solid timber floor, and even the velvet curtains were …(you guessed it), a dark red with golden ties.

"Wow…either the interior designer's favourite colours are red and gold, or those are our house colours. Somehow I doubt it's the former. Talk about house spirit. I hope it isn't considered blasphemy that I have a purple and blue scarf," Lily said dryly before she really thought about what she was saying. _Ooops, I didn't mean to say it that loud. _Hoping she hadn't offended anyone, she was relieved when Natalie burst out laughing and another girl beside her giggled. Some of the students around her also threw a few amused glances in her direction.

"Is there a problem back there?" the 'patronising prefect' as Natalie had dubbed him called from the front.

"No, we're fine. Just dandy." Lily said blandly, which only caused the other girls to laugh harder. Feeling just a bit more confident of herself, she added, "Love the colour scheme by the way. It's…very…um..." looking around, she tried to find a word that fit the description_ …okay… have to finish what I started…_ "um…very……red……I mean, rich." By this time most of the students who had heard the Lily's first observation were laughing, and their laughter only increased at the baffled look on the prefect's face. Deciding it best to just ignore it he continued leading the students, pointing the girls and boys up to their respective dorms.

Unfortunately, everyone was assigned dorms, so Lily found herself heading towards the right with Linda (_Anabelle had ended up in Slytherin if she was remembered _right) and six other girls she did not know while Natalie went off towards the left with the remaining seven girls. _Great…I actually meet someone I could be friends with, and she ends up in a different dorm. And as fate would have it, I'm in the room at the end with the 'bimbos'. Oh bother…_Lily felt her heart sink as she walked in front of the three giggling girls behind her. It appeared that she hadn't been the only one to make new friends. Shaking her head in resignation Lily came to an abrupt stop at the door. The girls behind were so busy exchanging hair tips that they didn't even notice it till Linda stumbled into Lily.

"Oomph! Owwww, hey what did you do that for? Like who stops in the middle of the door like that?" Linda's whiny voice broke through Lily's daze and she moved inside, hoping to let the girls see why she had stopped so suddenly. Four poster beds sat in the four corners of the room, a small oak closet and matching set of drawers next to each of them. In between the beds at the left end of the room was a door that Lily presumed led to the bathroom and on the right hand side was a charming little fireplace. But what had really caught Lily's attention was the huge window that displayed the grounds of Hogwarts. Moving quickly to the bed next to the window and the fireplace, Lily ignored the other girls as they fought over who got the beds closest to the bathroom. She'd always wanted a room with huge windows that opened out to the open sky and mountains and lakes, just nature really.

And here it was.

The silver crescent moon cast a glimmering path down the middle of the lake and shadows danced in the forest as a gentle breeze rippled through the trees. Something _(a mermaid?)_ rose gracefully out of the lake, and sparkles of water created ever-widening ripples as the droplets landed in the otherwise still water. Strangely enough, it was at this magical sight and not the ghosts and moving staircases that Lily finally realised that she was actually in Hogwarts, in the wizarding world, and not good old London. Lifting a hand and placing it on the window, as if searching for a connection to the world outside, she said softly to herself,

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto."


	4. Chapter 4:Monkeys and flying

Discalimer: _Nah uh!_ Yah huh! _Nah uh!_ Yah huh! _Nah uh!_ Yah huh! _Yah huh!_ Nah uh! _Got you! It's mine! So there!_ A gleeful J.K.Rowlings throws a smug look at poor widdle steph, who decides to sulk in a corner cos Harry Potter isn't hers. :p

The 'monkey' bit came from Caitie, who at my request for a random word in her bioc lecture that for some strange reason I was in, just said monkeys…somehow I worked with it, and came up with the first bit. No idea where the coconuts song comes from. And no caitie, the kansas line isnt yours, it's from the wizard of oz(which i forgot to put in the disclaimer, so here it is). I was actually intending to put the whole of Lily's first day in this chapter, but the ideas came, and it seemed appropriate to stop there. So it's a tad bit short than the other ones. Smeh!

Chapter 4:-Monkeys and flying

Lily's first day in Hogwarts, was, to say the least, eventful.

She'd been woken up at least half an hour earlier than she had planned to by squeals and loud chattering as the three 'monsters' worried over what to wear _as if anyone would see anything inside the robes! _and caked themselves with gunk they called make-up. _Honestly, kids nowadays…_Lily conveniently dismissed the fact that she was the same age as she attempted to shut out the noise with a pillow. Suffice to say, she was not a very jolly monkey. Resigning herself to the fact that she was awake, she rubbed her gritty eyes and stumbled blindly into the bathroom, ignoring the girls' indignant protests when she pushed them out.

Sufficiently revived after her shower and singing "I've got a lo-ve-ly bunch of coconuts!" Lily opened the door to an empty room. She wasn't quite sure if she was relieved or worried (being hurt would have just been silly) since although she had not been enthusiastic about being in their company, it would have been nice to go to the Great Hall with _someone._ " And I bet I'llget lost too…" she muttered to herself as she grabbed the book bag she had organised the night before and made her way out of the dorm.

7 staircases, 4 dead ends, 19 corridors and 3 helpful paintings later, Lily finally faced the big bronze doors leading to the Great Hall. Catching her breath she pushed open one of the heavy doors and inwardly shrunk back as seven hundred odd pairs of eyes swivelled from their waffles and muffins to focus on the latecomer.

Crap… 

Smiling weakly, Lily made her way to a table she hoped against hopes was the Gryffindor table. Spotting Natalie near the end she sighed in relief _okay, so I'm not cursed, despite all the other things that happen. That could potentially have been really embarrassing. _She quickly walked over only to slow down mid-stride when she realised there were no empty seats even vaguely near that vicinity. Continuing as if she had not paused, indeed, as if it had been her intention all along, she headed for the nearest vacant space she saw, conscious of the gazes still latched onto her. Turning to the girl beside it she asked timidly if the seat was taken. After receiving a strange look and then an indifferent "no" she sat down and looked around for something to eat, pretending to be unaware of the whispers and muffled laughter that spread across the hall. _They're not talking or laughing at you, or at least they would have done it regardless of who it was. _She told herself firmly, trying to ease the cold tight knot that lingered just behind her ribs. She was quite glad that over the years she had sort of managed to control the telltale blush that would sweep over her face and neck whenever she was embarrassed or angry. The vibrant red had been startlingly obvious in contrast with her pale skin, covered in freckles as it was. It only worked occasionally though, one of the disadvantages of being a redhead. The other main one being freckles, naturally. She prayed everyday that one day all those freckles would disappear and leave behind the milky alabaster white skin that her mother had.

"_In time they'll fade, love."_ She could remember all those times she had complained about her freckles, or her hair, or anything about herself really. Her mother had the patience of a saint, gently pulling Lily into her lap to comfort the sensitive girl nearly in tears with frustration at herself. Lily could still hear her warm voice in her mind, _"If you're anything like me they'll be gone by the time you're sixteen, and your hair would have tamed a bit by then too. You'll probably fill out a bit more too, grow some curves, although I don't recall being quite that skinny, dear. But then I was never that tall. That, you definitely got from your father. I think you'll turn out quite nicely my girl, tall, slender, beautiful… Why the boys will be falling all over themselves trying to catch your lovely green eyes. Your grandmother's eyes…"_

_Nanna…_Lily quickly blinked back the tears that threatened to spill at the thought of her grandmother, yearning to have her beside her now, to tell her everything would be alright and Lily was strong enough to make it through Hogwarts, make it through life. Her father's mother, so different from him and yet alike in so many ways. She was Lily's rock, her shelter and strength. In fact whenever she was scared or sad and angry, it had been to Nanna that she had run to, not her mother. Somehow, Mum just didn't understand. Filled with pain and anger and a whole cacophony of cold biting emotions after any of her father's 'episodes', it wasn't to her mother that Lily would turn to, but the warm, safe haven that surrounded her with a peace that she found only in Nanna's loving embrace. It was there she felt loved, wanted, needed. But Nanna was in London. Not Hogwarts. It had been hard leaving her, most of all, more than her room or school or even her parents.

"_You need this, bubbi, and I will not always be here,"_ Nanna had told Lily, using her special name for Lily, tenderly holding her as her tears fell and mingled with Lily's. _"You are old enough now, strong enough to spread your wings and fly. A bit earlier than I would have hoped, but life never fits into the plans we have for it. I will be with you, in here" _placing a hand on Lily's head, "_and in here"_ placing the other on Lily's chest above her heart _"so let go, let yourself Be, and soar." _Her brilliant green eyes looked heavenward, undimmed by age, possessing the age-old wisdom that only those who lived as long as she had could achieve. Many times they shone with amusement, occasionally sharpened in anger or disappointment, and only rarely darkened as she remembered the experiences that had brought an understanding, but too late… of the difference between knowledge and wisdom. In fact the only thing those eyes lacked, if you wanted to put it that way, was sight. But ironically enough, it was the least important, for Rose Lillian Evans saw not with her eyes, but with her mind and her heart. And that view was far more accurate and clearer than any other, unbiased and untarnished as it was from the judgmental and often sullied perception of society. Named after this estimable woman, Lily could only hope she would be half the woman her grandmother was.

_I can't give up now. I can do this. I will do this. For her. For me._

A look of steely determination in her eyes, Lily drew herself up and finished her breakfast, before walking off to class, self-assured once again. She did not notice the sky-blue eyes of the head-master twinkle as he smiled and said to himself "Yes, dear Lily. Walk proud, keep that chin up and someday you'll soar, higher and further than you could ever imagine." Around him, the professors glanced at each other, shrugged, smiled and returned to their meals. By now they were used to the little quirks and eccentricities that made Dumbledore the wise, if silly, mentor that they knew, respected and loved.


	5. Chapter 5:Impressions

Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine, but this story is.

A.N. Apologies for not updating sooner- exams and other such excuses :P but now it's the holidays, so I should have more time to write.

Chapter 5:-Impressions

It was kind of funny how classes seemed so similar and yet so different. Lily hadn't been sure what to expect, but somehow the familiar note taking in classes that dragged on followed by rushed journeys to the next classroom (and occasional hair-pulling at even more dead-ends) comforted her. It was still _school,_ even if they were teaching potions instead of science and transfiguration in the place of maths. She had ended up having lunch by herself since everyone seemed to be in clichés already and she hadn't seen Natalie anywhere. Tired but oddly content, Lily made her way to the field for her first flying lesson. _After all, what would a witch be without a broom? _Lily thought with a small smile to herself.

Walking out into the bright afternoon sun, she paused to allow her eyes to adjust to the sudden change and lurched forward as somebody walked right into her. She would have been able to maintain her balance if the person who had bumped into her had not also reached out to try to prevent them from falling. Overbalanced, they fell to the ground in a tangle of robes and limbs.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have stopped …like ……that." Looking up, Lily's words trailed off as she gazed into amused pools of green, gold and brown. _Ick I have to stop doing that. _Blinking slowly, she tried to shake herself out of the daze she was in as James brushed the tousled black hair out of his face, and stood up, offering a hand to help her up.

"Nah, it was my fault for rushing to get to the field," he said easily, pulling a light grimace, as Sirius teased,

"Yeah, couldn't wait to get to the flying could you? And you call me impatient!"

Lily placed her hand in James' and pulled herself up. She shot James a grateful look before looking down to adjust her robes, missing the slightly glazed look that appeared on his face at her smile.

"Come on, we'd better go or we'll be late," the pragmatic Remus said, mischievously adding "and have to use the old brooms that splinter". Both he and Lily laughed at the identical looks of horror on Sirius and James' faces as they practically ran to the field.

A sun-streaked blond woman directed them to a pile of brooms, her light blue eyes, stern but kind. Her skin was also quite dark from being in the sun, and really contrasted with her short spiked hair. She didn't look like you average professor, even in her robes. In fact the robes seemed a bit misplaced on her, a bit too formal and constraining. But once she got on her broom, Lily realised why this Madam Hooch look so odd on the ground. She sat on the broom like it was an extension of her, or she was part of it, and flew in the air like she belonged in the sky.

She had them all stand in a row and place their chosen brooms on the ground. Remus had kindly picked one for her, aware of her ignorance, and now Lily hesitantly held her hand over it. Around her brooms jumped into the hands of a few boys and girls at they're word "up", and James and Sirius were practically jumping out of their skins in their enthusiasm to start flying. Other students were not having as much luck as the brooms either blatantly ignored their increasing shouts or quivered as if laughing at their inadequacy. Trying not to worry that she'd be like that too, her naturally competitive side determined to get it right the first go, she somewhat confidently said "up". Apparently the broom had not noticed the note of uncertainty and anxiety in her voice, leaping into her hand so suddenly that Lily couldn't help but stare in disbelief at her success.

"See, no trouble at all. It's easy really." James called to Lily, trying to reassure her, his naive arrogance failing to notice that he had managed to insult all the other students who could not get their brooms to behave. Blithely unaware of the glares sent his way, he continued, "I've been flying before I was old enough to walk. That's what my mum says. She says I'm as good as my grandpa, who was the best Chaser in 1936." Being the child he was, he tried to impress this pretty green-eyed girl with the hair like fire and a smile like his mother's, not realising that his childish arrogance and insensitivity only served to make her angry and affronted. Lily had always been taught that it was "not nice" to boast, especially if it made people feel bad. So she naturally assumed that everyone had been taught the same and that if they did boast then they were rude, mean and proud. Keeping her anger in check, she said

"Well, good for you," and proceeded to ignore him as Madam Hooch took them through the basics of flying._ He's so sure of himself. I guess that just goes to show that some people might seem nice and polite but can be arrogant and mean. _Lily thought to herself as she carefully pushed off the ground. She quickly forgot about James as she flew around slowly at first, then more confidently, feeling more at home in the air than the ground. _Like Madam Hooch. Maybe that's why she likes the sky better. _She felt light and free, and the wind across her face and in her hair was just heavenly. _I could stay like this forever. _

All too soon, the class was over and Lily reluctantly landed on the ground, still feeling strangely weightless as she went back to her dorm to get ready for dinner.

In the dorm on the other end of the staircase, James pondered over the red-haired girl. He was a bit puzzled over her slightly cold response when he had just been trying to be friendly with her.

"Hey, Remus, who was that red-haired girl?" He asked his knowledgeable friend, hoping he knew. Both Sirius and Remus turned to look at him in confusion, and Remus said slowly, "Uh…Lily…?" At James' blank look, Sirius clarified,

"You know the girl from the train? Ring any bells? You sure you didn't leave your mind in the clouds, mate?"

Understanding and amusement flickered on Remus' face as he gave a soft chuckle "Oh, except you weren't wearing your glasses, so you didn't see what she looked like."

Sirius smirked as James aimed a glare in his direction and said "And whose fault was that I wonder…"

"Hey don't look at me. I… am innocent." Sirius said dramatically, scowling when both his friends snorted and exchanged a knowing look.

"Sirius, I've known you nearly all my life. And you, my friend, are _never _innocent." James said.

"And I have only known you a few weeks, but from what I do know, I have to agree whole-heartedly with James." Remus said with a grin.

"Hey that's not fair! You're teaming up against me! And Remus, you met James and I at the same time, how come you trust what he says more than what I say?" Sirius demanded.

Before Remus could reply James cut in with a self-righteous voice, "Because I, am more trustworthy."

"No, I am!" Sirius said indignantly.

And from there the argument just degenerated into "No I am"s as Remus sat on his bed, shaking his head at the silly childishness of his friends. Not that he was complaining or anything. When you were what he was, silly friends were better than no friends, and somehow he trusted these two loyal if somewhat immature boys. At first shy and afraid they'd _know _just by looking at him, he'd been touched when the two seemingly arrogant outspoken boys had gone out of their way to make friends with this weak looking boy who did not look like he belonged in the Quidditch club they had met in. He knew what Lily thought of James, as he had felt the same at first. But perhaps him not having any friends made his standards a bit lower, at least so he thought until he realised that behind all the arrogance and seeming careless inconsideration was a steadfast, generous and kind boy who had not quite learned to watch his words. James had a good heart and good intentions. He just hadn't learned how to properly show that. Sirius was as loyal as you could get, and passionate in whatever he believed in. At first glance Sirius was easy to read and characterise, but as Remus got to know him better, he realised that there was more to Sirius. James might have been a puzzle, but Sirius was a labyrinth. _There are times when he gets this look in his eyes, like he's seen more that he should. Or when he talks about his family, which was only once in a blue moon._

Speaking of which, it was full moon in a week. It had been easier keeping it a secret when they had only hung out together occasionally at the Quidditch club. Now, living in the same dorm, his secret would be much harder to keep but he was sure he would manage. He couldn't think, didn't want to think of what their reactions would be if they found out…Giving himself a mental shake, he told himself _I'll cross that bridge when I get to it, if I get to it. If not there's no point worrying about it. You'd think I'd have learned that by now. _Focussing instead on what had become a pillow fight he grinned, grabbed a pillow and joined in.


	6. Chapter 6:Fairy lights, babes, and socks

Discalimer: Harry Potter is J.K. Rowlings, not mine.

A.N.- I realise that being in the 1970s, technically none of the songs I might put in would have existed, but I'm taking advantage of the fact that this is fanfiction, and assume that they didP. Song is Deliver us, from the Prince of Egypt. Apologies for the long delay…What with moving houses and exams and my stupid computer crashing…with the chapters I had written, I honestly have not had time to rewrite the story. Rewriting stuff is always harder since it never turns out as good as the original(or so I feel). Please don't hate me…I've also vaguely unsure of where to take this story, which I began on a whim, but hopefully I'll be able to it back on track. Tata for now!

Italics are just thoughts. Italics with -– before and after them are directed thoughts to Leyaanthii.

Chapter 6:-Fairy lights, babes, and yellow socks with blue stars

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_Thanks for the chocolates. I especially liked the ones with the hazelnut filling. How's things at home? Maybe you should get a dog to keep you company at home Mum. I'm sure it'll dispel the "emptiness and silence" at home without "your girls". Although I clearly remember you complaining about our noise when we were home._

_School's fine. It's like normal school at home. The main thing I'm having trouble with is transfiguration. I suppose it's because I was always taught that a ball is a ball, not a snow globe or a fairy light. So it's hard to understand that it could be something else with just a few latin words and a flick of my wand, since to me it would still be a ball._

Looking up at the picture of a four year old Lily in her hand, Rose Evans smiled sadly, remembering when the picture was taken. Lily had been playing with the Christmas decorations, pretending they were fairy lights as she danced around and Rose had quickly snapped a picture of her. She had always loved "playing pretend". Having tea parties with her toys, dressing up her dolls for balls where they'd meet princes and live "happily ever after" like in all the Disney shows she watched. Petunia had always been more practical and realistic, unlike Lily, the whimsical idealist, living in her own daydreams half the time.

At least that was how she used to be.

She still was not sure what had happened. All she knew was that she had gone to put the camera away, knowing Lily would be careful not to break the glass ornaments she loved so dearly, only to come rushing back as she heard the doorbell followed by a loud crash. Richard had come home early from work for once, and in her joy to see her father Lily had rushed to meet him at the door. Rushing to the living room, Rose had stopped at the doorway in shock at the sight before her. The delicate glass balls, bells, and angels were lying in pieces all over the floor. The box they had been in was where it had been on the floor, but all over the room around it, even near the door, were the shattered pieces of what had once been the Christmas decorations.

Getting over her own shock, Lily had promptly burst into tears, and would have rushed into the room if her father had not grabbed her arm. In his worry that Lily or Rose might have gotten hurt by the glass, and the fact that the decorations had been from his mother, Richard had proceeded to give Lily the harshest scolding she had ever received, not bothering to curb his angry words as he reprimanded Lily. Lily kept saying that she had been playing with the fairy lights and she hadn't meant to, unfortunately Richard had assumed that she had been throwing them in the air, although Rose had argued that there had only been one crash. Feeling that Lily was too young to deserve such a sever lecture, Rose had pulled Richard aside, trying to reason with him. How the ornaments had gotten all over the floor when the box was still upright was a mystery. Especially since Lily couldn't have put it back upright without having to walk through the mess. But Richard was adamant that Lily had to have done it, whether by accident or on purpose, and both deserved a punishment. He was like that sometimes, refusing to see something because he was sure he was right. Lily had interrupted, saying she had thought the fairy lights would stay in the air because that was what fairy lights did but they had all come falling down, like in London bridge. Not understanding and now thinking that she was lying Richard had angrily told her she shouldn't make things up and that fairy lights weren't real and could not have been flying around the room. With that simple statement, the wounded look on her face that her father did not believe her had been replaced with an even more shattered look, almost empty, as if everything she had believed in was a lie.

Whatever it was, from then on Lily had never played pretend again, no matter how many new dolls Rose had bought, hoping that being so young Lily could bounce back and continue playing like every other child her age did. She had never really forgiven Richard for that, for "killing Lily's childhood". With Petunia she had always tried to be more mature and 'grown-up' than she needed, and after that incident, Lily was like that as well. Too solemn and thinking too much for someone so young. Nanna had helped a bit, so Lily still had times when she was her old self, or what Rose imagined she would have been without the restrictions and rules Richard had placed on her, but those times grew rarer and fewer. Hopefully in this new school, Lily would be able to find some good friends who would help her to find out who she was and help her to "just be", as Nanna used to say.

Coming out of her thoughts Rose realised the poor owl who had delivered the letter was still perched on the table, looking at her with what could be perceived as concern in its eyes. Tentatively reaching a hand out to stroke it, Rose chuckled softly as she remembered how just minutes ago it had startled her so much her neighbours had rushed over, thinking something drastic had happened by her screams; to be met with a ruffled owl (what an owl was doing there they did not know) and a sheepish looking Rose who assured them she was fine. Smiling at the sated owl, she went back to reading the letter.

_Charms is fun, we have this cute little professor who looks a few centuries old. Even his name suits him. Professor Flitwick. He reminds me of Mr Rubble, my old music teacher. Remember him? Anyway, I've managed to meet a few people, so don't be so worried. There's a really sweet girl called Joanna who's got blond hair (almost strawberry blond but not quite), and blue eyes. She's quite shy and quiet but I got to know her through a herbology assignment. Then there's Talia, who's Spanish, who's got the nicest black wavy hair and chocolate eyes. There's also Josh who has light brown hair and grey-blue eyes. I know you don't approve of boys with long hair but he's really nice Mum, so I'm sure you'd like him. I met him and Talia when I crashed into Talia ( as I tend to do to innocent strangers) and we both sort of fell onto Josh. Thankfully instead of seeking revenge we became friends. So my clumsiness counts for something after all. Well, I have to go for dinner now. Don't worry too much. I'll be fine._

_Love,_

_Lily_

Folding the letter and putting it back in the envelope for Richard to read when he got back from work, Rose leaned back into the chair with a sigh, missing her lively daughter and hoping she was doing as well as she said she was. Having raised her, she did know her daughter better than Lily thought, and hoped that the hint of restlessness she had sensed in the letter would not cause any problems. Lily just seemed to attract trouble like a magnet. Deep in thought, Rose did not notice when the delivery owl silently flew out the window, heading back to Hogwarts, where the object of her thoughts was.

Lily felt…itchy. Like she needed to do something. Problem being she had no idea what. Which really did not help matters. She had finished all her homework ages ago, even the ones due in a month, purely out of boredom. It was raining outside and she did not really want to bother Talia or Josh, who were both in their Ravenclaw common room playing chess. Joanna was still painstakingly doing her potions assignment in the library, having stubbornly refused to let Lily help. And despite what she had mentioned in the letter to her parents, she really did not know them that well. They had their own groups of friends in their own houses and she did not really see them except during shared classes or along the corridors. Not that she minded of course. Most of the time she was quite content being alone, when she'd just read or write or even just lie in bed and daydream. Feeling restless now she jumped out of bed, ignoring the momentary pause in the chatter from the other side of the room as the other girls turned from their "make over session" to see what she was doing. Strolling through the Gryffindor common room, Lily noticed Natalie laughing with a black haired girl called Li Hua near the fireplace. The two had fast become best friends, and Lily, feeling she would not be wanted in such a tight friendship, had not made much effort to know the two girls better, even though she felt as if they could have been very good friends.

Continuing out the door, past the Fat lady who waved, she made her way to the entrance of Hogwarts. Lily squinted as she tried to look past the haze of rain, before stepping onto the grass, tipping her head back with a smile as cool raindrops slid down her face and into her robes. She'd always loved the feeling of the wind and rain in her face, loved watching lightening dancing across the sky. In fact she slept best when there was a storm raging outside her window. While Petunia would run to her parent's room crying in fright, Lily would sit at the window, just watching. Following a tug that seemed to be pulling her towards a shadowy patch of trees, Lily paused uncertainly in front of the Forbidden Forest, vaguely remembering some sort of warning against going into it. The tug grew stronger, and throwing caution to the winds, Lily stepped into the dark forest, holding out her wand as if her meagre first year knowledge would be able to deal with whatever creature might confront her. Stumbling over buttress roots and slipping over mud and decomposing leaves, she finally came to a clearing, blinking her eyes as they adjusted to the brighter light. It was a pretty place, the raindrops casting little rainbows everywhere as they reflected the light. It even had a little waterfall, splashing into a little river, and beside it a unicorn lay, looking at her……

_What the…?_

Blinking her eyes again in disbelief, Lily finally grasped the fact that there was actually a unicorn looking at her with…was that amusement in her blue eyes? Somehow Lily knew it was a she, as if the knowledge had just appeared in her mind. She lay there, golden hooves moving slightly as her sides heaved continuously, silver hair glinting in the light. _Why is she lying down? She's panting as if she's just run a race or something…oh..you've got to be kidding me…_ Mouth dropping open unceremoniously, Lily realised that the unicorn was about to give birth. Correction…Leyaanthii…again, she just _knew_ this fact, was about to give birth.

But she seemed to be having trouble, and looking into Leyaanthii's worried eyes, Lily _knew _that for some reason the foal did not want to come out. _Does not want to?_ _How can it stop from coming out just because it does not want to? _It seemed to Lily that Leyaanthii rolled her eyes, and she seemed to get the sense that unlike …inferior?…humans, unicorns could choose whether they wanted to come into the world, and those that decided not to unfortunately brought their mothers with them to…cielo?... _I assume that's an equivalent to heaven, _Lily thought. This was part of the reason why unicorns were so rare, less foals wanting to leave their mother's wombs to come out into the increasingly evil world.

All this information Lily managed to glean from Leyaanthii as images and ideas, which seemed to be how they could communicate. _Hmm…I seem to be getting the hang of this whole telepathy thing… _Lily raised an eyebrow as Leyaanthii asked her to …sing?

_--Excuse me? You want me to sing? Um...and my singing would help…how? -- _

_--Right…now see, the problem with that is that I don't think my "sweet, pure and innocent voice" is going to be "enticing" anything from "coming out of your womb".--_

_--You want me to try anyway? Oh God, how do I get into these things…? --_

Giving a resigned sigh, Lily tried to think of a suitable song. _Why is it whenever you need to sing, all the songs pop out of your head and every other time, especially when you least want them to, they're stuck in your head…? Sigh…umm…let's see…_Humming softly, then hesitantly singing, Lily slowly approached Leyaanthii, kneeling beside her and reaching out a tentative hand to stroke her flanks. To her delight, the unicorn did not shy away, if anything she seemed to calm down a little.

_Hush now, my baby, be still, love, don't cry_

_Sleep as you're rocked by the stream_

_Sleep and remember my last lullaby_

_So I'll be with you when you dream_

After what felt like hours of singing and encouraging to Lily's sore throat, she was starting to believe that her voice was going to be giving out before the baby did. And by the looks of Leyaanthii's inconsistent breathing and glistening sides, the unicorn wouldn't be lasting too much longer either. Lily's heart broke at the thought of such purity and beauty slowly dying away, and slumped over Leyaanthii as she whispered hoarsely, "Oh please… please don't die…I'm sorry...I couldn't help…I..I'm so sorry…please...please…Come on! You can't do this! It isn't fair! You can't just let your mother die just because you don't want to come out! She needs you to live! "

Jumping up and gesturing wildly in anger, Lily found herself alternatively berating the baby still in the womb and herself for her helplessness. "This stupid world needs you alive! If we don't have your innocence and purity and power then the world's going to keep getting darker and…then what will we have to hope for? You can't just run away from your problems! You have to fight back, do what you can, even if it's only a little! Come on!" Biting back a scream, Lily childishly stamped her foot on the ground, cringing as a sharp pain shot up her leg from the impact with a protruding root.

Dejectedly sitting down in the mud again, a tear finally fell, almost indistinguishable from the rain already trailing down her pale face. "What kind of messed up fantasy is this anyway? What good is dreaming if you can't have a unicorn in it? What good is magic and power if you can't even use it to save anything? Please…please…just try? Please?" She didn't even know who and what she was asking anymore. Whether it was to herself to keep on singing, or Leyaanthii to keep holding on, or for the baby to live. It was all just mixed up into a single heartfelt plea. And someone somewhere must have heard that prayer, as suddenly Leyaanthii's body contracted, and with an ease that almost seemed to mock the previous difficulties the baby slid out her. The foal was hornless and a pure gold under the matted blood that was slowly being washed away by the rain…Syluenteii…his drained but proud mother named him…_my struggle for hope..._ Lily's smile became a laugh as she watched the foal's clumsy attempts at standing on all four feet at the same time.

Time disappeared as she helped to clean Syluenteii, and relaxed in the rain whenever he would lay his head in her lap to rest from his standing and walking endeavours, limpid pruple eyes gazing at her adoringly. All too soon, Leyaanthii had recovered from the birth and was ready to leave as the sun began to set. Waving and hoping she would see them again, Lily walked out of the forest to Hogwarts, trying to brush the caked mud and grass from her robes to no avail. _The houseelves are gonna have a heyday trying to clean this robe. _She was so busy looking down that when a pair of shoes appeared before her she did not have time to stop, with only a fleeting thought as to why one shoe had red laces while the other had green before they crashed, startling an "Ooomph!" out of both of them.

_Crap…I really have to stop doing that. Now who did I bump intoooo…oh dear…_

"P..P…Professor Dumbledore! I am so, so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going, and really it was all my fault! I didn't hurt you did I?" _Shut up and stop babbling like a brainless idiot Lily! _She reprimanded herself.

"Relax, Miss Evans," Professor Dumbledore interrupted before she made a bigger fool of herself. "I assure you I'm quite alright. But you on the other hand, look like you need a shower and something warm to eat. Dinner starts in a bit, so I would think that leaves you quite enough time to make yourself presentable before joining us in the great hall. I shall hope to see you there." His knowing blue eyes twinkled as he walked off with a small wave, humming a song to himself. _He's wearing yellow socks with blue stars…No wonder everyone calls him a quirky old man._ Relieved that she had not gotten into trouble Lily walked down the hallway towards the Gryffindor common room. _That song he was humming sounded awfully familiar…_Coming to a dead stop, Lily swung around with wide eyes to see the retreating professor go around the corner, yellow socks visible under the tattered floating hem of his cloak. _He…How?...Wha…?But..? _Blinking in shock, Lily tried not to panic as she tried to think of how Professor Dumbledore knew where she had been. _Well…I guess everyone was right when thy said you couldn't hide anything from him. But he didn't say anything about it, so I guess I won't either. _Feeling tired yet reenergised somehow, Lily quickly went to get ready for dinner, thinking _If this is the kind of thing I have to look forward to, it's going to be a wicked seven years! _


	7. Chapter 7:That time of the year

Disclaimer: Harry Potter property of J.K. Rowlings. Plot and additional characters mine…yada yada…

A.N. Ick..I feel as if this was a really bad chapter. Can't quite seem to get back into the swing of things. But I thought it might work if I just wrote the chapter, rather than delaying it for ages trying to get it right. Went over it so many times. Grr…hopefully you think it's alright. I went through my chapters and realised that I had way too many people with names starting with 'L' so I went back and changed Lisa's name to Anabelle, this being the blond hair blue eyed stuck up Slytherin. I've edited the chapters that involve them(1,2, and 3) so it should be all ok now. Sorry if the names get confusing. Even I got confused. P

Actually, here's a list of students I'm mentioned. Hopefully it helps. meaning either I haven't come up with their last name or it is irrelevant.

Gryffindor:

1st yrs

James Potter-hazel eyes, messy black hair, glasses

Sirius Black-dark gray eyes, black hair

Remus Lupin-blue eyes, sandy brown hair

Peter Pettigrew-watery blue eyes, dirty blonde hair

Lily Evans-green eyes, red hair

Natalie Beuford-intense light blue eyes, smokey brown hair, pale skin

Linda -brown eyes, light brown hair

Li Hwa -black eyes, black hair

3rd yr

Valerie Tse-dark brown eyes, untidy long black hair, glasses

Ravenclaw:

1st yrs

Talia -chocolate eyes, black wavy hair

Josh -gray-blue eyes, long light brown hair

Hufflepuff:

1st yrs

Joanna -blue eyes, 'not quite' strawberry-blonde hair

Slytherin:

1st yrs

Anabelle -pale icy blue eyes, straight blond hair

Chapter 7:-That time of the year

Lily was as busy as a first year could be, what with learning (_losing_) her way around the school, doing (_dreaming_) assignments, and appreciating (_avoiding_) the pranks played by James, Sirius, Remus and a shy boy called Peter that they had picked up somewhere along the way. Occasionally she would spend time chatting with Talia, Joanna or Josh, mostly when they were studying in the library or if she decided to sit with them during meals. However, what occupied most of her time were the cautious explorations, first of the forbidden forest, in the hopes that she might find the unicorns again, and later as the searches proved futile, her explorations of the castle itself. She intended to eventually draw a map of all the areas she explored at the end of her seven years here, complete with any secret passages she might happen to find. That was the plan of course, but whether it came into fruition was a different matter…

Before she knew it though, that time of the year had come again.

"ARRRGGGHHH! I can't do this! There's just too much information…that I don't understand…and therefore can't learn! I can't…can't…ARRRGHHH!" Taking a deep breath, Lily decided that ranting probably wouldn't help her understand the fundamentals of transfiguration (although it certainly did a lot for her stress levels). "Okay, just breathe. In…out…Okay. Now I can stop talking to myself." Shaking her head to clear it, Lily was glad that the other girls in her dorm had decided to take one of their many breaks from studying to take a walk, and therefore could not witness her momentary lapse from sanity.

_Not that I'm that sane normally…but still…_

Transfiguration was the last exam before the holidays, but it was also Lily's weakest subject. _And my brain is dead from all the other studying and information I've stuffed in. Why couldn't the last exam be charms or arithmancy or something? Something easy? Or that I'm good at? _Deciding that she too needed a break just to clear her mind, Lily made her way down to the common room.

"Well, look who decided to show up."

_You have got to be kidding me…_

"Freckles! I was just wondering if we had to go up to check if you were still alive or if you'd studied yourself to death. It happens you know."

_I can't deal with this right now_

"Why James, it seems to me that our Lily-flower is ignoring us! Oh, the horror! "

_Just ignore it. You know they're doing this just to annoy you. Don't pay attention, don't react, and they'll give up. Like Dad said._

Except it didn't seem to work in this case. The Marauders (as they called themselves after hearing Professor McGonogall complaining about them "marauding all over the place") had discovered that Lily, besides an initial shriek of shock and perhaps a glare, did not react to their pranks on her the way the other girls did, which was basically a lot of entertaining jumping, shrieking, crying and vows of revenge which never got carried out. Naturally, Sirius and James at least, had taken up the challenge of provoking a more satisfactory response from her, and thus tried every possible way they could of teasing and annoying Lily, anticipating a most pleasurable explosion when she finally cracked. Deliberately calling her names that made fun of her appearance, like carrot-top and freckles, or of her name, like petal or flower, was one of the first things they started doing. Sometimes they would also trip her when she was carrying a lot of books, or imitate her mannerisms, exaggerating them to make the people around them laugh.

All of this was added on to the other pranks that they played on her or the other girls as a group. Being such an obvious target of the most popular boys in school certainly didn't help in Lily's social life at all, and she found herself employing all her skills at stealthily hiding and avoiding the boys to prevent another embarrassing episode. While her Dad's theory of bullies might have worked in other cases, it appeared that James and Sirius were too stubborn to give up on getting a reaction out of Lily. This was especially so after they discovered her penchant for blushing, giving rise to other nicknames relating to tomatoes or cherries. Lily bore all of this stoically despite her sensitive nature, and as the year went by, eventually the boys did get a bit bored of such unresponsive prey and their initial fervor died down to a more bearable teasing.

It was nonetheless, still very annoying.

"Why Sirius, I do believe you're right! However shall we dement this situation?"

In the ensuing silence, even some of the students sitting at the tables studying looked up at James in shock. James just blinked owlishly back at them, wondering why no one was responding. In the end it was Remus, who with a long-suffering tone said,

"I do believe, James, that the word you were looking for was _amend_, not …dement. That means something else entirely."

Sirius meanwhile, was laughing so hard that he ended up rolling on the floor gasping for breath.

"Dement……this situation! Dement!…Situ…AHAHAHAHA!"

Scowling at what he felt was an over-reaction by his best friend, James defensively said "Well that's what I meant. I purposely said it wrong to…to make everyone laugh. You know, so people wouldn't be so stressed."

Shaking his head wryly, Remus said, "If you say so."

"I do say so!" James said, looking around for a way to get the attention off him. Unfortunately for him, Lily had already taken advantage of the distraction to escape from the common room. All he saw was a flash of red disappear behind the portrait.

_Dement indeed. Stupid boys! _Lily ranted as she strode down the corridor. Muttering to herself, she blindly swung around the corner, only to jerk back in surprise at the scream.

_Ooh..my neck…_

Looking up she saw Linda, hand fluttering dramatically over her heart as if someone had tried to kill her rather than just nearly bump into her.

"Can't you watch where you're going? Honestly! Couldn't you see, or was your hair just too blinding?" Exchanging a look with her friend, they both burst into giggles.

Mumbling an apology, Lily swept past them, anxious to get away before she strangled everyone of them and hung them off the astronomy tower.

"Lily the loser!" They called after her, bursting into laughter again before going back to the common room.

_Imitation robots with air in their heads! Stupid bimbotic…bimbos! ARGH! _Reining in the fraying edges of her temper, she headed towards the library, hoping to find Talia or Josh there. Linda and her sidekick had taken to picking on Lily, attempting to emulate Anabelle and her friends in Slytherin. Since finding people more of her "caliber and class" in Slytherin, Anabelle had discarded Linda like an old doll, her blue eyes cooling with disdain now whenever she saw Linda. Linda, refusing to accept defeat, had tried to start her own group, copying Anabelle in the hopes of being accepted into their elite group.

_As if she would pay any attention to Linda now she was in "lowly Gryffindor". At least the other girls in the dorm aren't too bad. _Lily thought as she walked slowly into the library.

But those girls still held the titles dorm-mates, rather than friends, as Lily didn't feel they were her type. In the end, Lily still mostly hung around her friends from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Finding them in one of the tables in a corner, she sat down with a huff and placed her head in her arms on the table.

"Trouble with the Terrible Two again?" Josh asked, eyes not moving from the notes in front of him.

Not bothering to lift her head up, Lily heaved a sigh, before replying, "And before them, the Marauders. Well, just James and Sirius really. Peter just sat there staring at the fire, and Remus looked like he was trying not to get involved, as always. I don't get why he hangs around with those idiots. He seems nicer than that. I suppose someone's got to keep them from going too far."

A noncommittal "Mmhmm.." from Josh resulted in another sigh from Lily. Looking up from her work, Talia said, "Shouldn't you be studying? Transfiguration isn't really your best subject is it? Bring your stuff here and we can study together."

With one last sigh, Lily stood up and went to get her things and the rest of the day was spent slaving away at the books.

"I'm doomed…doomed, I tell you! DOOMED!" Lily moaned and draped herself across Talia, who laughed and pushed her away.

"Don't be silly, Lily. Hey that rhymes! Anyway, I'm sure you'll do fine." Josh said as he neatly stepped back to avoid Lily as she careened towards the wall.

"All those questions! No answers! Blank! I'm doomed!" Lily wailed again as she crashed in to the wall, slumping onto the ground.

"Well," the soft voice of Joanna intruded her spiel, "at least it's over."

Lily's head jerked up, eyes wide in realisation.

_Over…_

"YES! FREEDOM!" Lily shouted as she danced down the corridor out of the classroom, ignoring the bemused looks on Professor McGonogall and the other students faces. It occurred to them that perhaps the stress of the exams had knocked a few marbles loose in Lily's head. Having already witnessed Lily's craziness many times, Talia, Joanna and Josh just smiled and walked beside their friend as she continued prancing and twirling all the way to the Great Hall for dinner.

"See you in a few months, guys!" Josh waved as he walked off with his parents. Joanna and Talia also left a while later, after a few hugs and promises to write. This left Lily standing by herself in the train station, and after a minute of looking around, she resigned herself to going to a corner to wait for her parents.

While she was excited to be going home for a longer period of time, she also felt sad leaving what had been her home for the past year. _At least, it's only for a few months, _she thought, brightening a little.

"Lily!"

Lily looked up just in time to see a flash of red and blue, before finding herself enveloped in a familiar warmth, the sweet scent of her mother's perfume washing over her.

"I've missed you so much!" Her mother cried, not relaxing her embrace. Lifting her head as much as she could, Lily saw Petunia standing slightly away from them, scowling slightly.

_Well, at least she came…_

Next she looked to her father; a slight smile which gentled his features was the only sign that he was glad to see his daughter. But it was enough. Whatever quarrels or fights she knew she would get into with her parents and sister when she got back didn't matter in this moment.

All she knew was that it was good to be home.


	8. Chapter 8:Discoveries

Disclaimer: Harry Potter doesn't belong to me…Santa Claus sent him down the wrong chimney…woe is me…

Chapter 8: -Discoveries

After a relaxing holiday at home, mainly because Petunia, undecided about how she felt about Lily being a witch, had largely ignored her, Lily was excited to be back at Hogwarts. Getting the rusty gears in her brain to work again after such a long period of disuse was difficult at first, but thankfully, most of the teachers gradually eased into actual teaching, starting with a bit of revision before getting into new material. Lily thus found herself with time to continue her mission of exploring the castle.

She had drawn several rough maps of various areas on different levels and had already found a few secret passageways; some of which were hinted at in _Hogwarts: A History_, some based on rumours or by overhearing older students' conversations, and even one or two she found by complete accident. Her favourite was one of those. It had happened when she had …"misplaced"…herself after classes one day.

Not lost…simply misplaced.

Trying to find her way back had ended up with her being in a seldom-used corridor, with only two paintings. The inhabitant of one did not seem to be there, but in the other an old pirate with a peg leg was lying on a hammock, smoking a pipe. Vaguely reminded of Popeye, she looked for a can of spinach but sadly could not spot any in the cabin. With a mental shrug, she tried asking for directions.

"Umm…excuse me sir. I was…"

"Lost are ye? Figures. I ne'er see fine lassies like yeself no more. When I do, they're not keen on spendin' time chattin' with a poor retired pirate like meself. All ye young'uns nowadays. Allays runnin' off to do this 'n that. Life just can't go slow 'nuff for ye can it? Times was when us elders were 'spected and ye's had to sit 'n listen. 'N now I'm borin' ye blabbin' me mouth off. Go on wit ye then. Leave a lonely man with spiders 'n roaches for company." After finishing his speech, the pirate waved a wrinkly tobacco stained hand in her direction, lying back down on the hammock.

Curious and bemused, Lily replied, "Well, sir. I was actually going to ask about the scene outside your porthole. It looks like Greece, but I wasn't too sure. I don't have anymore classes today, so I wouldn't mind listening to a story or two. I'm sure you have a lot to tell."

_Nice cover Lily _…_and it's not as if I have anything better to do anyway._

The pirate peered at her with disbelieving eyes, and after a period of intense scrutiny, evidently decided that she was telling the truth and not "shammin" him.

"Well I'll be. Seems there be hope for this world yet."

Again, there was another heavy silence, in which the pirate seemed to be having an internal debate in his mind. With a grim nod, he finally said hoarsely, "Well then ye best come in 'n make yeself comfortable." And before Lily could even think of a reply, the wall behind the painting slid open, revealing a dusty passageway.

"Come on then, haven't got all day have we?" The pirate's hoarse rumble shook Lily out of her shock and she slowly made her way inside. After a few twists and turns, the passageway eventually ended up with a flight of stairs that wound upwards and around like in a tower. After what felt like hours of climbing, _explaining why not many people would want to chat really, if they find themselves out of breath just getting up these blasted stairs, _Lily finally arrived in a cozy room with dark blue couches surrounding a fireplace. Above the fireplace was another painting, this time of a little house on a cliff by the sea, with the pirate sitting on a chair on the deck, pipe still in his mouth.

"Took ye long 'nuff to git here" He grumbled. Pushing down her irritation and a reply that would have been construed as rude, Lily mumbled an apology and walked to one of the large windows, savouring the cool breeze as she looked down to see the forbidden forest and the lake beside it.

"Ye remind me of another fiery-haired lass I used to know…"

Walking back to one of the couches, Lily settled back to an evening of stories and conversation with Rhine (whose name she eventually discovered as he was telling his story involving the "fiery-haired lass" and "a monster the likes of which ye'd never seen")

In the end Rhine drifted off to sleep in the middle of their conversation, his loud regular snores echoing in the room. Standing up and stretching stiff muscles, Lily was just getting ready to leave for dinner when she noticed a short flight of stairs leading to a trapdoor in one of the shadowy corners of the room. Curiosity getting the better of her, she climbed the stairs and pushed with all her might at the trapdoor. To her surprise, it easily sprang open and she found herself looking up into the sky.

Okay… 

Glancing around, she realised that she was standing on the top of the tower. There was a small walkway about 4 feet wide surrounding the pointed spire, which the trapdoor had opened to, and while there was a wall around this as well, it only came up to what would have been an average person's thighs. It was easy enough to imagine herself losing her balance and falling hundreds of feet to her death, but this never crossed Lily's mind as she held her breath, astounded by the beauty of Hogwarts laid before her. A playful breeze swept her hair out of the ribbon tying it, and uncaring of the ribbon slowly twirling it's way down into the darkness she let out a whoop of joy.

_Now this is more like it!_

Eventually her empty stomach managed to make its demands known in groans and rumbles, and she reluctantly went back down. It was rather late, so most of the students were chatting while nibbling on whatever was left on the tables. Spotting her friends at the Gryffindor table (they occasionally took turns sitting at each other's House tables) she hurried over, glad that they had waited for her. Her windblown hair and rosy cheeks got her more than a few stares as she sat down to eat, but ignoring them, as she was prone to do, she just concentrated on getting as much warm food as she could into her mouth. As neatly as possible of course.

"You're going to get indigestion if you eat that fast." Talia's practical voice penetrated her eating frenzy and Lily made a vague effort to slow down.

"Damn…I was enjoying watching that. How you can eat so fast so neatly amazes me." Josh commented jokingly.

"And how you can eat that much and still stay that skinny." Joanna added in, ruefully looking down at her own slightly pudgy body.

Swallowing a mouthful of food, Lily replied, "High mebolism", before looking around for another buttered roll.

Sighing in exasperation, Talia said, "You mean meTAbolism".

"Yeah that" was all Lily said before biting into the roll she had just managed to grab before Sirius did.

"Hey! That was mine!" He shouted indignantly, to which Lily replied with a careless shrug.

"I got it first."

Glaring at her, then shrugging, Sirius turned back to James and began furiously plotting another prank to be played on the weekend.

It was late at night, and the halls of Hogwarts were quiet, save for the occasional hiss from Hermes, the caretaker's little black snake, as it slithered stealthily along corridors. Following closely behind it was Pringle himself, as silent and deadly as his pet, especially for any unlucky students caught past curfew. Apollyon Pringle was a simple man, but what he did, he did with a single-minded focus that rivaled that of any hungry predator seeking it's prey. Which was a huge misfortune, and loudly lamented (in his absence of course) by a great many students, complaining of the numerous and hideous detentions received when trouble-makers were pounced upon whilst attempting to play a prank, or couples were rudely interrupted from snogging, sometimes accompanied with shrieks as the girls (and sometimes even the boys, although they never admitted it after) realised that the hand creeping up their thighs was not actually a hand but a snake. Sometimes even teachers on patrol would be startled when they were suddenly (albeit politely) greeted and all they could see was shadow.

Halfway up one of Hogwarts many towers, a forbidden light shone dimly from a mahogany wand, its shine occasionally visible from under the door whenever the blanket covering it and four boys shifted.

"Stop moving Peter!" Sirius hissed from his corner of the blanket.

"I can't help it! My foot's itchy!" Peter whined a reply, as the blanket twitched off the ground with each scratch.

Sensing a possible outburst from Sirius, which might bring unwelcome attention, James quickly whispered, "Both of you shush! We have a job to do!" He had always wanted to say that. It sounded so… grown-up and…… well, it sounded grown-up. After allowing himself a moment of silent congratulation, he quickly redirected everyone's attention to the piece of paper in front of them.

It had obviously been through a lot, deep creases evident of constant folding and refolding. There was even a stain from when James had spilled spaghetti on it, nearly sending Sirius into a fit of apoplexy ("Yyy...you nearly foiled my master plan!"). And the tear in the corner from when James had snatched it from Remus before he used it as scrap paper ("You can't do your sums on THAT!"). Adding in the still slightly visible markings where some detail had been changed, and the smudges from being passed from one grubby hand to another, it was a wonder anything was intelligible at all.

"Everyone know what they have to do?" James looked around as each boy nodded, Peter doing so hesitantly, while Remus seemed reluctant.

"We've never done spells this complicated before. What if something goes wrong? What if we get caught?" Remus asked softly and was immediately reputed with "We won't!" from both Sirius and James, who grinned at each other as Sirius said, "Why do you think we had you plan that part Remus? You're the best at making sure we don't get caught. What was it you said about risks? Milising?Minising?"

"Minimising," Peter spoke up suddenly. At the ensuing stunned silence he blinked in confusion and stammered "What? Isn't that what he said? I think that was it. I mean, that's what I remembered, but I could be wrong. Was…"

"No, Peter. That was it." Remus interrupted before Peter started hyperventilating, "We just didn't realise that you'd remember it."

'Oh. I remember lots of things, like when I was four and I had this aunt who went on walks with me. Except the last time when she suddenly shook all over and turned blue. They said she had a heart attack, except I couldn't see anything attacking her or her heart, so I think they didn't know what happened either. But then again I couldn't see her heart." After finishing his speech, Peter leaned back and continued scratching his foot.

After a bit more blinking, Sirius said, "Moving on…so…Petey-boy you're the distraction, Remus you're doing the sensory spells. James is doing the animation spells and I'm doing the switching spells. Who wants to start it this time?" Despite his business-like tone, all the other boys could see the barely concealed hope and anticipation in his voice, so it was unanimously decided that Sirius would do the final spell, since it after all, his master plan. With all that said, the four boys grabbed their wands and silently made their way out of their dorm and the common room. Since Sirius was the most accustomed to dark corridors and sneaking from living in his family manor, he led the way, while Remus played rear guard, hoping his 'sensitive hearing' as he had explained to the other boys, could pick up the slightest sound to give some warning. He did not mention to the others that often enough his sense of smell picked up the slight musk and sulphur scent of both caretaker and his pet before he heard scales or the edge of a boot scraping off the floor. Teachers were not even considered, as they did not know many of the secret passageways or hiding places the boys frequently used; and if they did, they did not often bother to check them, unlike the caretaker. Sirius, thinking that he might have a map, had sneaked into his small cramped office near the dungeons, but only found himself a month's detention scrubbing the potions classroom floors. Library excursions had not revealed anything either, but not to be deterred, the boys had started a map of their own, determined to have explored all of Hogwarts before they graduated.

Fortunately for them, they managed to avoid the caretaker till they were nearly at their destination. Their warning was actually from a painting of a gentlewoman, who exclaimed loudly "Oh I do say, would you mind telling that snake of yours not to slither all over my dress? It's a Puertolini and I shall be quite upset if it was ruined."

Under Pringles grumbling reply and Hermes' hissing, Peter quickly took off down the corridor while the other boys made themselves inconspicuous. Moments later soft sobs could be heard, drawing the caretaker to where Peter was, and more importantly, away from the boys. A huff of resignation and irritation along with faded muttering followed as Pringle led 'poor Peter who had lost his way and couldn't find his common room even after spending ages walking around in the freezing cold and scary hallways' back to his dorm. Once Remus could no longer hear them, Sirius smirked and whispered "Looks like he's good for something after all."

"Stop being mean and get to work." Remus reprimanded before taking his wand out and casting a spell at a table.

"All that babbling! He would have given us away for sure if we didn't include him in all this." James said underhandedly to Sirius as they both took out their wands to start casting spells as well.

"I doubt Pringle could get a word in to give him detention for being out late." Sirius added in before being shushed by Remus again. Not wanting to take the chance of getting caught by Pringle coming back from Gryffindor tower, they subsided into silence and quickly finished what they had set out to do. Once they were done, they quickly snuck back to their dorm to find an already snoring Peter, none the worse for wear from his incident with the caretaker. They all got into bed, looking forward to waking up the next day to see the resulting mayhem, and fell asleep with smiles still on their faces.

A.N. Again, I apologise for the long wait. I swear it wasn't even meant to end like this, but the characters took over. And now I've dug a ginormous (yes I'm aware that isn't really a word, think gigantic and enormous) hole for myself in leaving you with a cliffhanger that I will somehow have to live up to in coming up with a worthy prank that will not be lame. Any suggestions would be welcome, although I have some vague idea floating around somewhere with sheep serum and EMG graphs.


End file.
